Christi O’Connor (Lili Shri) began her love affair with music shortly after leaving a career in medicine. After serving as an addiction medicine doctor in Portland during the 2020 pandemic, she was forced to move away from the world of Western Medicine and into the world of artistic creation in order to preserve her own mental and physical well-being. She began writing her first album “Falling Up and Down” (in production) in the early upward swing of a long, hard-fought battle for her life, which was threatened by an acute neurological injury, withdrawal from long-term antidepressant use, addiction, and major depression.

Her music tells the story of the ups and downs experienced in the finding of her faith, with the dissolving of her career, social status, relationship, family support, and social group. Through these hardships, she learned to reconnect with her artistic abilities, her love of people, her role as a healer, and her soul, resulting in an unshakeable connection to unseen forces of raw creativity. Her intention and purpose is to serve others who are called to get out by going through, using artistic cultivation to promote individual and collective healing in this difficult process.

Christi appreciates a wide variety of genres including folk, classic rock, country, R&B, and classical piano. She brings covers to life with her own unique style, tailoring set lists to accommodate a wide variety of venues and events. She brings her original work to the stage during music-focused performances and loves to tell her story of redemption through the canvas of sound. Her work is a reflection of a life-long commitment to the creative act that saved her life over and over again: making music.